Brock loses early lead, Eagles baseball season ends in Class 3A state semifinals
Brock’s attempt at its second UIL baseball state championship came up short on Friday, losing to Corpus Christi London, 7-2, in a Class 3A semifinal at Dell Diamond.
The Eagles end their season with a 29-11-1 record and a sixth trip to state overall. It was their first state appearance since 2018. They won their only title in 2006.
London (33-5-1) will face the winner of Malakoff and Gunter in the 3A final at 9 a.m. Saturday.
“[London] is a very well-coached team and very deserving to go to the championship game,” Brock coach Hart Hering said. “Proud of the kids. We had a great season, it just didn’t turn out how we wanted, but I’m proud of their fight. We’ll be back.”
The Eagles set the tone early with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Cash Jones led off the game by reaching base on a London error. Jones was caught stealing second, but Tyler Moody following with a triple to center.
Jaxon Gleaton drew a one-out walk and stole his way around the bases. Gleaton and Moody recorded the double steal and Moody touched home for a 1-0 lead.
Gleaton stole third and home to make it 2-0.
But London, which is headed to its first state title game in program history, shut down the Eagles from then on. Starting pitcher Kade Budd (13-0) allowed no runs and one hit in the final six innings. He finished with two hits, one earned run, two walks and 10 strikeouts.
Budd allowed just two base runners in the final six, a Moody walk in the sixth inning and Camden Harris single with one out in the seventh.
Meanwhile the London offense got going. The Pirates got a run in the bottom of the first inning before tacking on six runs in the bottom of the second.
“We got off to a great start with two in the first. We put some pressure on them which has been our recipe and formula all year,” Hering said.
Landon Salinas drove in a run with a single in the first, then the Pirates got six runs on four hits in the second. After they got back-to-back walks to lead off the second inning, Mason Arispe drove both runners in with a single to right center. Budd drove in Arispe with a grounder to first and Salinas tacked on two more RBI to make it 6-2.
“We just couldn’t get that zero in the next half inning. London answered back and separated with that big inning. We just couldn’t stop the bleeding. We made some mistakes and they capitalized,” Hering said.
Brock junior Dusty Baker came on in relief with one out in the second and gave the Eagles 4 1/3 innings allowing two hits with one unearned run, one walk and two strikeouts.
“He was super efficient out of the bullpen and we have confidence in him,” Hering said. “He gave us valuable innings for us and put up some zeros to keep us in the game. That was big and he’s been like that for us all year. He had a fantastic outing and he’s back so we’ll count on him for more big innings in the future.”
Brock graduates six seniors, including Friday’s starting pitcher Carson Lightfoot (11-3), who is headed to Angelo State.
“He wasn’t his best, but he did a great job this season and helped us get to this point,” Hering said. “He’s been a big part of what we do for the last four years and he has a bright future ahead of him.
“We started three freshmen in this game so we’ll have a good squad next year. Our goal is to be back at the state tournament. That’s the goal every year to get to Dell Diamond and we accomplished that. We have a ton of talent coming up in the program so the future is bright and I’m excited for what’s next for us.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 12:20 PM.
